Asked by
of Ullock
To ask His Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of
the impact of new food import requirements on (1) domestic
producers, and (2) food safety.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs () (Con)
My Lords, the controls set out in our new border target operating
model, BTOM, represent a comprehensive assessment of the
biosecurity and public health risks presented by imports,
together with the risks of relevant pests and diseases. They
allow us to assess our confidence in the exporting country’s
production standards and health controls. The BTOM aims to strike
the right balance between allowing trade to flow and protecting
our domestic producers from threats such as African swine
fever.
of Ullock (Lab)
My Lords, April’s post-Brexit import controls come after numerous
delays and redesigns, and against a backdrop of a shortage of
vets to check consignments and hauliers to move them. The port of
Dover is concerned that the decision to have physical checks so
far from its border will enable illicit activity between the two
sites. Domestic producers are worried that, as they face higher
input costs and labour shortages, EU farmers will be able to
undercut them. How can the Minister guarantee that British
farmers will benefit from these reforms and that there will be no
undermining of our high welfare and food safety standards?
(Con)
I thank the noble Baroness for her extensive question. The
purpose of the BTOM is to provide that balance between the
necessity to check for our biosecurity and allowing trade to
happen. Specifically on Sevington, since 2022 the Government have
provided funding to all port health authorities, including Dover,
to support Border Force, which has the responsibility for checks
on illegal imports. The Government recognise the rise in illegal
imports, particularly pork, from eastern Europe, which is why we
continue to provide additional funding to district port health
authorities. With the introduction of BTOM, many of the Dover
Port Health Authority’s duties and associated costs will move to
Sevington, including the commercial trade checks that are being
implemented, hence the reduced funding package for Dover.
(Con)
Does it not sound like Mrs Thatcher’s belief in the single market
was a good idea? Should we not recognise that and stop this
nonsense now?
(Con)
I thank my noble friend. The last time I checked, we collectively
voted to leave the European Union. The Government’s job is to
implement the biosecurity checks to make sure that we are
protected—not just our farmers and our consumers but the trade
deals, which are worth billions of pounds a year to the UK
economy.
(CB)
My Lords, could the Minister find in his briefing pack the
several occasions on which the European Affairs Committee of your
Lordships’ House has recommended that there should be an SPS
agreement with the European Union? If he looked at that, could he
answer this question: how many of the new controls being imposed
would be required if we had an SPS agreement with the European
Union?
(Con)
The noble Lord raises a very good point. I do not have the exact
details of the requirement he is asking for, so perhaps the best
thing I can do is write to him on that.
(Con)
My Lords, I declare my interests in the register. The Minister
will be aware that we import 45% of the food in this country, and
surely one of the lessons from the Ukraine war is the added
emphasis on food security. Can the Minister say something about
import substitution, and can he also give the House some
assurance that the sustainable farming incentive does not always
prioritise environmental schemes over food production?
(Con)
I thank my noble friend for his question. The Government take the
issue of food security extremely seriously, and we are absolutely
committed to producing high-quality British food for British
consumers. Getting the balance right between what we produce
through our SFI programme—or our ELMS programme, I should
probably say—is a fine judgment between getting the environmental
and biodiversity improvements we all want to see, and producing
food for the country.
of Hardington Mandeville
(LD)
My Lords, with beef and pork exports to the EU down by more than
20%, and the import of apples down 16.8% and oranges down 18.2%,
what steps are the Minister and his Defra colleagues taking to
ensure that, first, British farmers are not going out of
business, and, secondly, supplies of essential foods are
protected for the British consumer?
(Con)
I thank the noble Baroness for her question. As I say, the
Government are completely committed to domestic food production.
I do not see that the introduction of the BTOM system has any
bearing on what we import or export into or out of the UK.
(Lab)
My Lords, the Minister recently announced that meat imported
through Dover will be checked at Ashford, which is about 15 miles
upcountry. How is anybody going to stop the trucks from going
straight up the motorway rather than turning left at Ashford?
Will there be any enforcement, or are they just trusting
people?
(Con)
I thank the noble Lord for his question. It is important to
differentiate between what is happening at the port of Dover and
what is happening at Sevington. If you go to Sevington, you
follow a system by completing the new electronic IPAFFS, which is
designed for commercial imports. What is checked at Dover by
Border Force is illegal imports. Now, you are not going to be
sent to Sevington if you are illegally importing something; you
go to Sevington only if you are following the Government’s
designated procedures.
(Con)
My Lords, has Brexit given any kind of boost to the production of
apples in our country —those wonderful varieties Coxes, Pippins,
Beauty of Bath and so on? I must say that I have not noticed any
change since 2020.
(Con)
I thank my noble friend for the question. I am afraid I am not an
expert on apple varieties across the UK, but I know that there
has been quite a lot of emphasis in government policy of late to
widen the breadth of our different types of seeds and trees. I am
sure that apples will be on the list; I will check for him.
of Hudnall (Lab)
My Lords, may I take the Minister back to his answer to the
question from my noble friend ? Perhaps I am very stupid,
but I found it quite difficult to understand what he was telling
us about the difference between what will happen in Dover and
what will happen at the new facility outside Ashford. If people
are being checked at Dover, what is then happening at Ashford?
What is to prevent—this is the question he was asked—lorries
leaving Dover that should be going to Ashford not doing so?
(Con)
I hope I can clarify that for the noble Baroness. If you are
commercially importing goods into the UK, you are following a
system where you fill out an electronic form and that form
identifies whether you are in the high, medium or low-risk
category and whether you are going to be selected for a check at
Sevington. When you arrive at the Port of Dover in your lorry,
you will be notified that you have been selected for a check, and
that information goes from the Port of Dover to Sevington.
Sevington is then expecting to see the delivery arrive there
shortly thereafter. That is entirely different from a white van
arriving with illegally imported products—let us just call it
pork—from eastern Poland. That is checked by Border Force at the
port of Dover. So you have Border Force and you have border
control posts, and they perform different functions.
(LD)
My Lords, can the Minister confirm whether the necessary
professionals are still being recruited in order to provide this
service? What percentage of capacity will be available on day
one? Will it be 100%, 50% or what?
(Con)
I thank the noble Lord for his question. Having been down to
visit Sevington myself, I can assure him that we are in the
advanced stages of recruitment there. I fully anticipate that, by
the time we are up and running for checks at the end of April
this year, we will have a full complement of staff. As to whether
we are going to go straight to 100% checks, the answer to that is
no, we are probably not. We are going to monitor the situation
and will be in control, through the IPAFF system, of the number
of vehicles that we direct to Sevington for their checks.
